North Carolina jumped four spots to rank fifth in the 2016 “America’s Top States for Business” survey from CNBC that was disclosed Tuesday.

A key reason: The state’s access to capital, which earned North Carolina a No. 2 ranking. (N.C. took the top spot in that category in 2015.)

However, “HB2” drives down “quality of life” rating.

“Due to controversy over the state’s ‘bathroom law, [House Bill 2], North Carolina was hurt badly in the quality of life category, where it landed in 30th place – its worst category alongside infrastructure & transportation.,” CNBC reported.

Yet a spokesperson for Gov. Pat McCrory noted that the state actually improved in that ranking.

“I think it is relevant to your story on the CNBC rankings that NC actually went up/improved from 33 last year to 30 in the quality of life score,” the spokesperson said.

Commerce Secretary John Skvarla praised the overall ranking.

“Business leaders consistently recognize that North Carolina is an outstanding place to do business,” he said in a statement. “The CNBC ranking is just the latest example of our strength, highlighting the many competitive factors North Carolina offers companies so they can be successful.”

Based on a wide variety of criteria spread across 10 categories in all, North Carolina received a score of 1,522. The maximum points available was 2,500.

Helping the state improve in the rankings was a seventh overall score for technology and innovation.

In other categories, the state ranked:

  • 18th in the cost of doing business category (17th in 2015)
  • 9th in work force quality (16th in 2015)
  • 11th in overall economy (6th in 2015)
  • 30th in infrastructure and transportation (23rd in infrastructure)
  • 28th in education (30th in 2015)
  • 15th in business friendliness (17th in 2015)
  • 18th in cost of living (23rd in cost of living)

“Job growth in the state was healthy last year, but unemployment remains above the national average,” CNBC added.

Georgia topped the list followed by Texas, Utah and Nebraska.

After North Carolina, rounding out the top 10 were: Minnesota, Washington, Colorado and Virginia.

For more information, see:

http://topstates.cnbc.com